Read Mandarin
HSK 3 · Intermediate

借我用一下Jiè wǒ yòng yíxiàCan I Borrow It in Chinese

HSK 3 reading practice · 92 words · ~2 min
de手机shǒujīkuàiméidiànle可是kěshì找不到zhǎobudào充电器chōngdiànqì
My phone is almost out of battery, but I can't find my charger.
wèn同事tóngshìde充电器chōngdiànqìnéngjièyòng一下yíxiàma
I asked my coworker: "Can I borrow your charger for a bit?"
shuō当然dāngrán可以kěyǐgěi
She said: "Of course, here you go."
手机shǒujīfàngzài桌子zhuōzishàngzuòzài旁边pángbiānděng
I put my phone on the table and sat next to her to wait.
半个小时bàn ge xiǎoshíhòu手机shǒujīdediàngòuyòngle
Half an hour later, the phone had enough battery.
充电器chōngdiànqì还给huángěishuō谢谢xièxiebāngle
I returned the charger to her and said: "Thanks, you really helped me."
充电器chōngdiànqìfàngjìnbāoli然后ránhòu继续jìxù工作gōngzuò
She put the charger back in her bag, then went on with her work.
🔊 Audio uses your device's Chinese voice for now — teacher recordings are coming. Tap any word to see its meaning.

Key words 生词

充电器chōngdiànqìcharger
jièto lend; to borrow
gòuenough
还给huángěito return (something) to
然后ránhòuthen
继续jìxùto continue

Grammar note 语法点

能 + verb + 一下 + 吗?(polite request)

Adding 一下 after a verb softens the request, and 能...吗 asks politely whether something is possible.

你的充电器能借我用一下吗?— Can I borrow your charger for a bit?
把 + object + verb(the 把-construction)

把 moves the object in front of the verb to stress what happens to it.

我把充电器还给她。— I returned the charger to her.
够 + verb(enough to)

够 before a verb shows there's now enough of something to do that action.

手机的电够用了。— The phone has enough battery now.

Check yourself 小测验

1. Why does the narrator ask to borrow something?
2. What does 能...一下吗? do in this text?
3. What does the coworker do after getting the charger back?
Fei — Mandarin teacher
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